Miracles And Magic In Round 3 Of The U.S. Open Cup

Did we expect to see this much excitement when US Soccer fixed their problems with the US Open Cup? Did we expect all this crazy, nutty, “What the hell is going on???” type of moments in Round 3 Proper? I certainly didn’t expect half of MLS to get eliminated in this round, but that’s what happened, and here are recaps of the best of them.

PORTLAND TIMBERS 0:1 CAL FC (AET)

Cinderella’s glass boots continues for Eric Wynalda’s Cal FC as it took them to stoppage time to get the victory. Artur Aghasyan in the 95th minute got a nice ball and caught Troy Perkins off his line and chipped in the match winner.

Kris Boyd had a great chance in regulation to convert a penalty, but sadly the former Rangers & Kilmarnock forward shanked it wide in the 79th minute. All night long the Timbers’ chances were coming, but never they converted.

HARRISBURG CITY ISLANDERS 3 (4): 3 (3) NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION (AET)

The only thing worth noting in regulation was the Revolution going down to 10 men in the 35th minute as Diego Fagundez was sent off for a reckless challenge. The craziness was all in extra time.

In the first half of extra time, the Revolution built a three-goal lead with Kelyn Rowe in the 95th, Lee Nguyen converting a penalty in the 100th and Benny Feilhaber three minutes later. So what does the City Islanders do? Equalize in the second half of extra time.

Brian Ombiji got what most thought would be a consolation prize in the 111th, and no one expected more after that goal. Belief came in the 117th when Sainey Tourey cut the lead to one, but the man who gave life to the Islanders in last year’s USL Pro Final did it again. Former Philadelphia Union reserve player J.T. Noone forced penalties with a rocket of a shot in the 120th minute.

It was three all in the shootout as Andrew Marshall of Harrisburg put his side ahead, but when Benny Feilhaber stepped up to the spot, he nailed the post and the Islanders moved on to the 4th round.

MICHIGAN BUCKS 3:2 CHICAGO FIRE (AET)

It was all indoors at Pontiac, Michigan for this match, and the Bucks were looking to make some more history as well. Tommy Catalano got an early goal in the 9th, but Corbin Bone equalized in the 28th. An early second half goal from Frederico Puppo put the Fire ahead, till Nate Boyden got the equalizer in the 78th.

But in extra time it was an early goal from Nerman Crikic in the 93rd got the home town side all excited. After the extra thirty minutes it was all over and the Bucks advanced to the next round.

CAROLINA RAILHAWKS 2:1 LOS ANGELES GALAXY

It didn’t look good for the Railhawks as they went behind through a Pat Noonan goal in the 38th minute. But Colin Clarke’s side stuck with the game plan and they found a way to upset the reigning MLS Cup Champions.

Ty Shipalane equalized in the 75th minute and it bred life into WakeMed Soccer Park. Brian Shriver pulled off the miracle in the 88th minute and the Galaxy limped home across the country to try and fix their league season.

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4 Comments

Tijuana RobertMay 31, 2012

Wow, I’m so happy to see amateur sides beat division 1 teams. MLS
teams get smashed in European Summer friendlies, Concacaf Champions
League and now Open Cup. Is this progress that Garber & Co.
keep talking about or the fact you can order a hot dog from your
seat at KC Livestrong Stadium?

I think that the lower level and amateur sides are just a bit more
hungrier then some of the MLS sides. Chicago took it seriously and
lost, DC United took it seriously and just edged out their
opponent. Portland were very unlucky with all their chances not
going into the net. The Union who are having their problems in
League play saw this as a breath of fresh air and wanted to do well
in it. The Red Bulls brought a strong side to Charleston and did
well. They will bring another strong side to Harrisburg as well for
their Fourth round match.

Some comments on the San Jose/Fort Lauderdale game since I was
there. All credit to Fort Lauderdale for giving it their all, but
the score line doesn’t really do justice to how much San Jose
dominated most of the game. They completely controlled possession,
and created way more chances. They had difficulty in the first half
creating opportunities in the box with some of the fresh faces.
Fort Lauderdale scored with an impressive 55 yard strike out of
nowhere, and was easily their best moment of the game. Once 3 more
of their regular starters were subbed in, San Jose took complete
control. Their was no Wondo of course, no Alan Gordon, Ramiro
Corrales, no Marvin Chavez. Sam Garza who hasn’t started in a while
was an easy man of the match, and is obviously looking to get back
on the starting roster. Even with some of the starters out, and
once the second half hit, you could tell that San Jose was taking
the US Open Cup seriously.

Man, this is exciting! Good to see such multi-league depth in
American soccer. Oh, and also, the US Open Cup is meaningless and
stupid until the Sounders lose, at which point it’s the most
important silverware evar.